North American travelers were plagued by extraordinary travel disruptions over the recent holiday season, compounded by a 'once in a generation' winter storm that struck the US.
Thousands of flights were disrupted by the megastorm in late December, while a system glitch delayed or canceled more than 11,000 planes last week.
The cascading effects of travel delays are distressing for both travelers and airlines -- and unwelcome for travel insurers.
'Not only is it incredibly disruptive for the airlines and global air infrastructure, it's also a nightmare for consumers because they're not where they want to be,' said Carl Carter, chief commercial officer for Blink Parametric, an Ireland-based tech firm providing parametric services to travel insurers worldwide.
'It's very emotional. They're traveling to see friends and family are peak time. People have spent a lot of money to travel. On top of that, if they're stranded somewhere, then they have additional costs,' Carter said.
